The aim of population policy is to make populations sustainable. To have a sustainable population you need to aim for low birth and low death rates. China has one of the most famous population policy in history but has it achieved a sustainable population?
The early days of the One-Child Policy
During the 1970s the Chinese government realised the country was heading to famine unless severe changes were made quickly. Chnage to an industrial economy at the expense of farming had already caused a catastrophic famine from 1959-1961 with 35 million deaths. A 'baby boom' followed and population was growing too fast to be sustainable.
It started in 1979 and said that each couple:
must not marry until their late 20s
must have only one successful pregnancy
must be sterilised after the first child or must abort future pregnancies
would receive a 5 to 10% salary rise for limiting their family to one child
would have priority housing, pension and family benefits, including free education for the single child
Breaking the rules and having a second child:
a 10% salary cut was enforced
the fine imposed was so large it would bankrupt many families
the family would have to pay for the education of both children and for health care for all the family
second children born aroad are not penalised, but they are not allowed to become Chinese citizens
To help enforce this rule the 'Granny police' were created whose job was to keep everyone in line. They checked on couples of childbearing age and even attended contraception appointments to make sure they attended.
Minority groups were exempt from the policy. In rural areas, where sons were essential to work the family land, a second pregnancy was allowed if the first child was a girl, in the hope of getting a boy.
The problems and benefits of the policy:
The OCP has been controversial for many reasons:
women were forced to have abortions - as late as the ninth month
women were placed under massive pressure to obey the rules
local officals and central governments had pwoer over people's private lives
Chinese society prefers sons over daughters. Some girls were placed in orphanages or allowed to die (female infanticide) in the hope of having a son the second time roound
Little Emperors - As single children they are seen as spolit and this leads to the name Little Emperor
Success or Failure?
The OCP have brought important benefits to the country:
stopped the famine
there are now jobs and enough food for poeple
an estimated 400 million fewer people have been born
increased technology and exploitation of resources have increased standard of living for many
new industires have lifted millions out of pverty
Changes to the OCP in the 1990s and 2000s
Young couples who are both only children are allowed two children but government workers must set an example and only have one child. Young couples today face the problem of being responsible for four elderly parents. Having two children will share this burden in the future.
With less child to look after woman have been able to focus on their career and so have achieved more. the attitude to having a daughter has improved so there is less female infanticide. People have more money so are happy to pay the fines for having a second child. The policy is unlikely to be relaxed as in 2008 there were 1 million more births than deaths in China. Also 600 million people live on less than $2 dollars a day.
One major consequence of the OCP is a massive gender imbalance. This is a result of female infanticide, so there are now 60 million more men than women and this could less to problems in Chinese society as not all the young men will be able to marry.
The aim of population policy is to make populations sustainable. To have a sustainable population you need to aim for low birth and low death rates. China has one of the most famous population policy in history but has it achieved a sustainable population?
The early days of the One-Child Policy
During the 1970s the Chinese government realised the country was heading to famine unless severe changes were made quickly. Chnage to an industrial economy at the expense of farming had already caused a catastrophic famine from 1959-1961 with 35 million deaths. A 'baby boom' followed and population was growing too fast to be sustainable.
It started in 1979 and said that each couple:
- must not marry until their late 20s
- must have only one successful pregnancy
- must be sterilised after the first child or must abort future pregnancies
- would receive a 5 to 10% salary rise for limiting their family to one child
- would have priority housing, pension and family benefits, including free education for the single child
Breaking the rules and having a second child:- a 10% salary cut was enforced
- the fine imposed was so large it would bankrupt many families
- the family would have to pay for the education of both children and for health care for all the family
- second children born aroad are not penalised, but they are not allowed to become Chinese citizens
To help enforce this rule the 'Granny police' were created whose job was to keep everyone in line. They checked on couples of childbearing age and even attended contraception appointments to make sure they attended.Minority groups were exempt from the policy. In rural areas, where sons were essential to work the family land, a second pregnancy was allowed if the first child was a girl, in the hope of getting a boy.
The problems and benefits of the policy:
The OCP has been controversial for many reasons:
Success or Failure?
The OCP have brought important benefits to the country:
Changes to the OCP in the 1990s and 2000s
Young couples who are both only children are allowed two children but government workers must set an example and only have one child. Young couples today face the problem of being responsible for four elderly parents. Having two children will share this burden in the future.
With less child to look after woman have been able to focus on their career and so have achieved more. the attitude to having a daughter has improved so there is less female infanticide. People have more money so are happy to pay the fines for having a second child. The policy is unlikely to be relaxed as in 2008 there were 1 million more births than deaths in China. Also 600 million people live on less than $2 dollars a day.
One major consequence of the OCP is a massive gender imbalance. This is a result of female infanticide, so there are now 60 million more men than women and this could less to problems in Chinese society as not all the young men will be able to marry.
http://www.gatm.org.uk/geographyatthemovies/population.html - use this website to investigate a range of videos on the OCP in China
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8166413.stm - an article from July 24th 2009 about officals in Shanghai now encouraging people to have two children by promoting the eeptions to the OCP